Some Account of New Zealand/Chapter 8
Chap. VIII.
Polygamy is permitted among these people, and a man does not appear to be satisfied in all cases with one female of a family, but in some instances espouses several sisters at the same time; Tippeehee had four sisters as his wives, besides several concubines: he was far advanced in years, and had become paralytic; a combination of these circumstances had probably induced him to try the effects of a change of air.
The children here appear to be treated with a great degree of parental affection.
They are robust, lively, and possess, in general, pleasing countenances; their actions are totally unrestrained by cloathing, or bandage, which must undoubtedly lay the foundation of their future hardihood and healthy constitution.
The mode of carrying the children, if not the most graceful, is certainly not the most inconvenient. The child is placed astride on the shoulder of the nurse, who secures it in this posture by one of its arms; the other being left at liberty, it employs it in playing with the ornaments on the head of its mother; and as these are sometimes numerous, consisting of feathers, shells, buttons, and sharks teeth, the child is provided with an ample source of amusement.
In early infancy the child's ears are pierced, and the puncture gradually dilated by various soft substances, until an aperture is formed capable of receiving two or three fingers: This is considered a beauty; it is certainly a convenience, for not only are a variety of ornaments suspended from this loop-hole, but their smaller tools, needles, &c. bear them company.
I believe it is not customary to tattoo the children until they are eight or ten years of age; indeed at an earlier period the operation would be attended with considerable danger, from the inflammation that would be excited: even later in life the effects are sometimes so severe as to produce a great degree of fever, and some cases have occur red where death has been the consequence.
The operation of tattooing, which the natives call amoco, is usually performed in the following manner.
The device being marked out with a piece of burnt stick, or red earth, the skin is punctured with the sharp point of a piece of bone, into which a vegetable fluid is inserted: as the pain is considerable, a portion only of the intended figure can be depicted at one time; as the inflammation abates they continue their work, but it is not without a great degree of suffering that they arrive at the honour of a complete tattooing: however, as honour is the reward, and this honour is bestowed chiefly upon those intended for the profession of arms, it would be highly unbecoming their military character to complain of hardship in submitting to it.
In the likeness of Tiarrah the tattooing is completed: I have only exhibited his face, and though he in all probability suffered considerably from having it, as they conceive, so highly ornamented, yet his suffering must have been very much increased from having other parts of his body operated upon in the same manner.
The pantaloons, particularly the posterior part, are in general very highly embroidered, and of which they are not a little vain.
Those intended for the performance of their religious ceremonies have only a small square patch of tattooing over the right eye.
The women suffer but little from this barbarous custom: a small spiral figure on each side the chin, a semicircular figure over each eye-brow, and two, or sometimes three lines, on each lip, are all they are required to submit to. Their lips are naturally thin, and well formed, but so preposterous are their ideas of beauty, that they endeavour to render them as thick as possible by this operation.
The clothing of the natives of this part of New Zealand, and probably of the whole island, is, upon ordinary occasions, not more abundant than the season requires.
The common covering is a mat, composed of strong bladed grass, and so thickly woven, that it must prove an excellent defence against the heat of the sun, and would certainly keep out a long continued rain: it is in effect a complete thatch, and being of such a length, as to reach half way down the thigh; when they are seated, or squatted down, their figure very much resembles a large bee-hive, super-mounted with the head of a New Zealander.
It does not appear that they have ever thought of any artificial covering for the head, but the mode of dressing their hair, in all probability, is found to supersede the necessity.
The hair is collected all round the head and combed upward, so as to be secured on the crown by ligatures and bodkins, where it forms a knot of considerable bulk; which having a great quantity of red earth and fish oil incorporated with it, as well as with the whole of the hair, sufficiently protects the head from all inclemencies of the weather. Europeans have hitherto given the preference to white powder, to which they have added unctious substances, which modern times have enabled them to render more agreeable to the noses of their part of the world, by the addition of perfumes of various denominations. But the taste of an European is not to be disputed.
The ordinary clothing of both men and women is exactly similar, so that the only distinction is in their faces, and the heads of the females, which have usually a greater number of ornaments than those of the men.
It is really curious to observe a family of natives seated as I have mentioned. They give you the idea of a village, composed of a number of small huts, one of which is formed by each individual: their heads, at a distance, may easily be mistaken for chimneys.
Their mats being fastened at the neck only, they are soon thrown off; and as they are not worn when any active exertion is required, the facility with which they disengage themselves from them is found a great convenience.
The dress of the natives consists in a mat finely wove of the native flax, and its glossy appearance, with a fringe all round, renders it by no means an inelegant sort of mantle. These mats are made of greater dimensions than those used as ordinary covering: they are fastened at the neck only, but are usually wrapped round the figure, and retained in that situation by the hands of the wearer.
In cold weather this article of dress is sometimes applied on the outside of the common covering mat, and as this is, from long wearing, or some other cause, frequently not the most cleanly, the outer garment in many instances conceals what is not well suited to meet the eye of cleanliness or delicacy. The hair, whenever the dress mats are worn, is well powdered and pomatumed, in which feathers, sharks' teeth, pieces of bone, European buttons, beads, bugles, &c. &c. are fastened, instead of broaches, or other ornaments.
The same articles are collected for necklaces and bracelets, though they make these ornaments sometimes of short pieces of bone, somewhat similar to bugles, which being of various colours, are in many instances arranged with considerable taste. Necklaces are also made of pieces of reed.
The man in the moon, or green amulet, is suspended from the neck upon all occasions of full dress, though indeed it is very commonly worn at other times. There are smaller ones, made to be worn by children. That which I have delineated is of the size usually worn by adults.
The men, whether dressed or in their ordinary clothing, carry a waddy, suspended by a thong from the wrist. The waddy is in figure somewhat resembling a large battledore, and is usually formed of hard black stone, but some are made of bone taken from the head of the whale. This instrument is the sword of New Zealand, and proves as destructive a weapon as the sword of Europeans.
Whenever they dress for any particular occasion, the body is anointed all over with a composition of red earth and fish oil, or any other greasy substance they can procure; and in proportion to the elegance required, a greater or less quantity is employed. If they wish to appear remarkably splendid, or in full dress, rouge and grease are lavished upon their persons with the utmost profusion.
The dress of the military is a mat also, but in the manufacture of which much more labour is bestowed than upon any of the others; the materials are the same as those of the dress mats, but so tightly woven, that when hanging loose a spear will not penetrate it: this gives it the double advantage of a dress and a shield.
The war-mat is generally ornamented with a border, which frequently displays a great degree of taste: the Vandyke is a common pattern.
The priests, if so they may be called, appear to attend but little to the ornaments of dress. I believe they use but little, if any, red earth, either on their persons or hair; the unctious matter is used by them as a defence to the skin against the rays of the sun. Their heads are destitute of ornament, the hair being simply collected into a knot on the crown. The mat they wear is of a texture suited to the season.
The children go perfectly naked till about eight years of age. They wear ear ornaments from earliest infancy.